Twins take one of two on Friday

GREENEVILLE -- Like a man who had just lost all of his money in a poker game, the Twins were down and out but a three-run rally in the seventh helped Elizabethton wax Greeneville 4-3 on Friday night in the suspended game of a twin bill.

The Twins were denied a sweep of the Astros with a 7-0 loss in the second game.

Things didn't bode well for Elizabethton early as the first 15 batters were retired in order. To make matters worse, two miscues allowed Greeneville to take a 2-0 advantage in the fifth.

Elizabethton finally got on the board in the sixth but left the bases loaded to end the inning.

Adam Severino doubled then moved to third on a single by Dominic De La Osa. A groundout by Nick Romero scored Severino but the damage could have been more.

A smash off the bat of Jonathan Waltenbury was back-handed by Astros second baseman Jose Altuve and turned into a 4-6-3 double play.

The Twins got the bulk of its five hits during the seventh with one proving to be the difference in the game.

James Beresford lined a double to the left-centerfield wall with three ducks on the pond to put the Twins in front 4-2.

Curtis Leavitt took the win for Elizabethton pitching five-plus innings after Brad Tippett had thrown the first two frames on Thursday night. Leavitt allowed three hits, no walks and struck out four.

None of the Astros runs were earned.

Steven Blevins came on to record the final out of the eight inning for Elizabethton with one aboard.

Mark Hamburger relived in the ninth and immediately retired the first two batters. The Astros managed a pair of two-out hits that led to a run, but Hamburger retired the final out on a fly ball to right to earn the save.

Beresford had two hits and three RBI's to lead the Twins, while Severino collected a pair of hits and scored twice to keep his solid streak of play intact.

Greeneville, 7-0 (Second Game)

Both teams had trouble mustering any offense during the early going. A pair of hits each by both teams resulted in no runs over the first two frames.

Control problems plagued Twins starting pitcher Alex Curry in the third as a hit batsman, a walk and wild pitch put runners at second and third with nobody out. Curry was able to fan Christopher Turner but wasn't as fortunate on the next hitter. A routine ground ball which would have scored one resulted in a throwing error allowing another Greeneville runner to cross for a 2-0 advantage.

Omar Alcala came on in relief to start the fourth and immediately gave up a solo home run to Dionel Montas. Four more consecutive base hits followed including a run scoring single from Jorge DeLeon and Turner for a 5-0 Greeneville lead.

Alcala left the game without retiring a batter.

It's didn't get much better for the Twins as the West Division leaders found themselves trailing 7-0 after the Astros sent 10 men to the plate before the third out would be recorded.

The game ended that way with the Twins collecting only five hits.